Washer/dryer combo machine?

[wpcoe]

How practical is a combination washer/dryer, like this one that Best Buy has currently for B30k?

In the condo I'm moving into, having a vented dryer seems to be not an option, so I was considering a non-vented dryer anyway. Reading online reviews the biggest gripe from users of combo units is how long it takes to dry clothes. Is that because the users are accustomed to vented dryers, or is a combination machine even slower than a non-vented standalone dryer?

A question for both non-vented dryers and combination machines: since they run for longer times, will electricity bills be astronomical? I typically do a load of laundry 3x or 4x per month.

[wayned]

I had a combo machine many years ago and it was great when it was new. The problem was you couldn't wash a second load until the first load was dry, therefore it was slow. After about a year it became a maintenance nightmare and no one could fix it properly so I trashed it! Like I said years ago, the technology was old.

[KittenKong]

I find that my laundry dries in no time on my balcony in Jomtien. Of course if you dont have a suitable balcony that wont work.

Occasionally I dry my laundry inside my condo, and even that only takes a few hours.

I do live alone though, and it's mostly t-shirts, socks and shorts and the occasional sheet.

[trogers]

Go for two separate machines unless space is restrictive. Not much difference between vented and non-vented.

[wpcoe]

Thanks for the good replies.

I had a combo machine many years ago and it was great when it was new. The problem was you couldn't wash a second load until the first load was dry, therefore it was slow. After about a year it became a maintenance nightmare and no one could fix it properly so I trashed it! Like I said years ago, the technology was old.

Good point about not being able to do a second load while the first one dries. That's not my usual pattern, but sometimes it is.

I find that my laundry dries in no time on my balcony in Jomtien. Of course if you dont have a suitable balcony that wont work.

Occasionally I dry my laundry inside my condo, and even that only takes a few hours.

I do live alone though, and it's mostly t-shirts, socks and shorts and the occasional sheet.

The condo I'm (hopefully) moving to doesn't allow any laundry above the railing level which makes drying a queen or king bed flat sheet tricky. If wash two bath towels and have to hang them length wise to keep from hitting the floor/railing, that limits the rest of the capacity of the clothes line/rack. For the bulk of my routine loads, though, it's like yours (t-shirts/socks/shorts) and below-the-railing would work.

Sometimes, too, I just like the feel of tumbled-dry clothes and, especially, towels. I find that when line-drying my t-shirts they gradually become stretched out. Not sure why that happens, but a couple rounds in a high-heat dryer and they shrink back to normal. Some of my dressier shirts come out of a dryer wrinkle-free, whereas not so much when line dried.

Go for two separate machines unless space is restrictive. Not much difference between vented and non-vented.

Not being a large condo, I'd welcome the space saved from having two machines. From what I've been reading, two to three hour drying times are fairly normal with unvented and/or combo dryers. With my current vented stand-alone dryer, rarely does it take an hour for a full load.

[Langsuan Man]

Don't know if technology has improved these machines but I purchased one in the US made by a company name Equator, and the thing was useless

The concept was that by having a super fast motor the speed spin would "spin" all the water off of the clothes, nice idea on paper, but unworkable in the real world

Still had to hang up and final dry anything washed and "dried" in the combo machine since without a heated hot air blower clothes were always still damp after the "dry" cycle

[Naam]

dryers without venting dry by condensation and are extremely energy inefficient. have you thought of two machines mounting the dryer on top of the washer?

[mike324]

I have one of those combo units, takes on average 3 hours to dry with a full load. Other cons with the combo units are that you can't open the dryer when its still hot, you have to wait for it to cool down, it locks automatically when it warms up. Sometimes if you are in a hurry and want to grab a piece, you have to wait what feels like 5-10 minutes from when you stop the machine.

If possible get two separate unit, stack on top of one another. Get an extended hose for the dryer air outlet and pull it out to the window if close enough, probably not practical but much useful.

[trogers]

I used the steel clothes hangers with pegs for all my washings, including king-sized bedsheets.

Wrap towels over the hangers like wearing a shawl. Arrange t-shirts with edges at shoulder seams and peg.

Peg all corners of a bedsheet to a hanger each and hung loosely folded to dry.

[thehelmsman]

I'd have to bet 50 baht a day would cover most laundry costs for a single person to have a laundry service, one that does by the kilo do the majority of the laundry. In my world that would be the way to go most of the time.

[wpcoe]

Thanks for yet more good feedback.

Energy efficiency: A couple web sites said (I know, I know...) that even with longer motor running time, that the non-vented dryers were no less efficient with electricity use than vented dryers (one site even said they can use up to 30% less electricity) since you are not constantly blowing the hot air out of the dryer but rather keeping in most of the heat energy. Wonder how true that really is. <shrug>

Dryer cool-down lock-out: I thought I was misunderstanding one of the owners manuals I downloaded when it mentioned that. That would probably drive me nuts. A couple shirts I have dry very quickly so I like to pull them out early. Ditto for the rest of my shirts/t-shirts while the towels are still not dry. Would require a procedural adjustment on my part.

(A similar adjustment will be necessary to transition from a top-loading washer where I regularly add items after a wash cycle starts, vs a front-loading washer that locks me out once the water starts.)

Hanging sheets/towels/t-shirts: I still have difficulty visualizing how to fit a load of laundry (especially big sheets) on a clothes line or rack that can be no higher than 90cm off the floor-- a typical balcony railing height, no?

Laundry service: Schlepping laundry to/from an outside shop doesn't conform with my lazy nature. Maybe if the building had an in-building laundry service, but the new building doesn't, and I think it's a bit of a walk to the nearest laundry shop. Plus I had a terrible track record in the past having the shop NOT to perfume my clothes. God, I hate that horrible strong smell they add to clothes. One time my sheets/pillow cases were so bad I almost vomited in bed. I slept on the couch while I let the sheets/cases hang outdoors for 24 hours.

My other options include a standalone dryer mounted above the washer or out on the balcony. The point against the former, is the added storage space above the washer (or the ability to put the machine under the kitchen counter?) The point against the latter is that in the new place, there is no out-of-view place to stash the dryer. In my current condo, I have it on the balcony, but it's almost entirely out of sight from within the condo. Another point against the latter is the transport of laundry back and forth through the condo between the two machines.

[skatewash]

Dryer cool-down lock-out: I thought I was misunderstanding one of the owners manuals I downloaded when it mentioned that. That would probably drive me nuts. A couple shirts I have dry very quickly so I like to pull them out early. Ditto for the rest of my shirts/t-shirts while the towels are still not dry. Would require a procedural adjustment on my part.

(A similar adjustment will be necessary to transition from a top-loading washer where I regularly add items after a wash cycle starts, vs a front-loading washer that locks me out once the water starts.)

At least in my combo washer/dryer (Electrolux) it is possible to circumvent the cool-down lock-out during a drying cycle. If you want to stop a drying cycle prematurely, press the Start/Pause button. This stops the dryer. It will be in cool-down lock-out mode though, meaning you can't open for 10 minutes or so. To circumvent this switch the cycle selector dial to Off. Then switch it to one of the drying cycles (doesn't matter which one). After about 12 seconds you will hear a click, which is the cool-down lock-out unlocking. You can then open the dryer door and take out anything you wish. To continue drying, close the door and press the Start/Pause button. I don't know that all combo washer/dryers allow this as I've only ever used one, but my Electrolux does. Of course, this same method works at the end of a drying cycle if you do not wish to wait the 10 minutes or so for the door to unlock.

As far as adding clothes to a washing cycle. If you catch it soon enough, before the drum has filled with water, you can simply press the Start/Pause button, wait a few seconds (10 or so) until you hear the click of the lock-out unlock, open the washer door, add items, close the door, press the Start/Pause button. I don't know from personal experience what would happen if you press Start/Pause button during a washing cycle and the drum is filled with water. My guess is that it would stop the washing machine, but whether it would cause the washer to drain the water so that you could open the door I don't know.

[wpcoe]

That whole "lock the door for ten minutes for cool-down" is contrary to everything I was taught (and experienced) about removing clothes ASAP when the tumbling stops to minimize wrinkling. What's the rationale behind it? Most dryers I've used have a cool-down period -- while the drum is still tumbling -- to release the heat energy and, of course, you can open the door at any time and tumbling stops immediately.